Bomb Tossed Into Radio Bar and Grill in Tampa

Thursday

Jul 11, 2013 at 8:24 AM

TAMPA | Someone opened up a back door and threw a bomb inside Radio Bar and Grill on Busch Boulevard on Wednesday night, blowing apart walls, coating the floor with shattered glass, and sending one person to the hospital with chest pains.

By Dan SullivanTampa Bay Times

TAMPA | Someone opened up a back door and threw a bomb inside Radio Bar and Grill on Busch Boulevard on Wednesday night, blowing apart walls, coating the floor with shattered glass, and sending one person to the hospital with chest pains.

Tampa police were still investigating the incident Thursday morning as the bar's management and staff gathered to assess the damage and figure out how they would continue their business.

"We're just trying to figure out who would try to come in here and kill us," said Robert "Hoff" Hoffa, a disc jockey for the bar's onsite radio station. "We don't have any enemies here."

Hoffa had just finished his regular Wednesday night country music show when the blast happened about 10:30 p.m., he said.

Someone opened the back door on the small building, which stands two blocks west of Busch Gardens, and tossed in some kind of device, Hoffa said. About four people were inside at the time.

The explosion sounded like a truck slammed into the building, Hoffa said. People were thrown off their feet. The restroom doors were blown off their hinges. Inch-thick glass surrounding the DJ booth shattered and rained down to the floor.

One man was later taken to the hospital complaining of chest pains, police said. But no one was seriously injured.

The blast knocked out three high-dollar computer servers the station used to stay on the air, Hoffa said. The total property damage to the station alone was between $5,000 and $10,000, he said.

Hoffa said police bomb squad officers collected the remnants of the device for forensic testing. He said it was made of cardboard and filled with some kind of black powder.

Asked if he had any idea who was responsible for the explosion, Hoffa declined to comment.

As employees gathered early Thursday morning to assess the damage and sweep glass off the floor, they struggled to figure out how they would stay on track with planned events and keep the business going.

The bar opened 18 months ago, Hoffa said. They operate as both a restaurant and a live radio station, broadcasting country and rock music on 102.1 FM and online. They have also held special events to raise money for cancer research and other charitable causes, Hoffa said.

Despite the damage to the business, he said, management and employees were grateful no one was killed.

"We're definitely replacing everything that's broken," he said. "But life is not replacable."